The 10 Most ANNOYING Assassin's Creed Bosses
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VOICE OVER: Aaron Brown
WRITTEN BY: Caitlin Johnson
Whether they be hard, unbalanced, or just plain tedious, these are the most annoying bosses "Assassin's Creed" has to offer. For this list, we'll be looking at the most frustrating, irksome foes to be fought in Ubisoft's series. Our list of the most annoying "Assassin's Creed" bosses includes The Storm Fortress from “Assassin's Creed Rogue” (2014), Al Mualim from “Assassin's Creed” (2007), Jack the Ripper from “Assassin's Creed Syndicate” (2015), Black Shuck from “Assassin's Creed Valhalla” (2020), and more!
Script written by Caitlin Johnson
This entire DLC was building up to a final showdown between Jack the Ripper and Evie, but after the disappointing fight against Starrick in the base game, maybe we shouldn’t have gotten our hopes up. All we can say is that Ubisoft developers had clearly seen all the praise “Batman: Arkham City” got for its Mr. Freeze fight, and wanted to replicate that with a stealth boss battle in a closed arena. However, unlike Mr. Freeze, the Ripper doesn’t learn from his mistakes, and if you do end up brawling with him, you’ll find he’s easy to fight but has been given unlimited health. You HAVE to sneak around the room and perform assassinations, making the whole encounter much more tedious than it should be.
In a franchise that apparently used to think chasing someone for a long time was the ONLY way to pull off a boss fight, Charles Lee stands out as the worst of a bad bunch. He’s the final foe Connor needs to take down at the end of the game, with all his allies already dead. He still puts up a fight, though, leading Connor on a long and frustrating chase through Boston and then through the large, wooden ship you’ll have seen throughout the game. It gets extra annoying when you actually reach the ship, however, because once inside, it gets set on fire, and then it’s not entirely clear where you’re supposed to go. We guarantee you’ll have desynchronized a dozen times, even more if you were going for the optional objectives.
He’s not one of the hardest bosses in the game – in fact, he’s probably the easiest. But it wouldn’t have felt that way if you found him at the very beginning. He’s in the starting area in Norway, and if you’re exploring the open world and coming to grips with the new optional objectives, Erik Loyalskull will be the first of the Lost Drengr you encounter. He’s only power level 10, but if Eivor is power level 1 or 2, you’ll be out of your depth with this fight, dealing very little damage since you’ll also have very weak weapons and armor by this point. It’s annoying having to leave the first area to level up and come back later, when you’ll probably be so over-levelled that the fight loses all of its challenge.
This fight took the first game from its more grounded, historical realism with sci-fi premise and presented us with the beginnings of the Isu lore. But despite its significance, showing both the power of the Apple of Eden and how that power corrupts the people who wield it, it’s definitely not the best designed encounter we’ve ever seen. The first game’s jankier combat and inability to actively heal make it very annoying, as well as Al Mualim’s instant-kill attacks. Even if you’ve got max health, we’re sure you had to replay this final segment many times, ruining its impact.
Many of the legendary animals in “Valhalla” are difficult to fell, but all are unique fights that are usually a breath of fresh air. The Black Shuck is possibly the most annoying animal hunt in the game, however, largely because the beast is so mobile. It runs around the arena and jumps constantly, dodging your attacks and leaving you reliant on the bow. There are additional arrows and healing items scattered around the arena, but it’s still a long fight of watching the thing run around the arena and often being too far away for the fight to be fun. It was a relief to finally kill it.
You’ll fight elephants during the main story, but there are also a handful of optional, war elephant encampments designed to be tackled when Bayek hits level 40 – the level cap in the base game. All the elephants are difficult, but this one pits you against two at once. Yes, if you’re over-levelled and put the game on easy, they’re not too tricky, like most “AC” bosses, but what makes them uniquely annoying is that one of the elephants has an archer who’ll constantly harass you with ranged attacks. Focus on Resheph first and dodge the arrows, before turning your weapons on Qetesh, who’s slightly easier.
This was the climactic fight of “Valhalla’s” main story. We finally uncovered the truth: that Eivor, Sigurd, AND Basim are all reincarnated Isu, and that Basim is Loki. He’s also got a particular grudge against Eivor for things Odin did and tries to kill them. However, what makes the fight against him frustrating is that he has no on-screen health bar. We appreciate it’s for the immersion and gives you fewer distractions in this pivotal plot moment, but it does make it harder to see how many of your hits are actually landing and whether you’re even progressing in the battle.
“Black Flag” already had plenty of difficult ship battles, most infamously against El Impoluto, the hardest legendary ship in that game. But the Storm Fortress in “Rogue” is perhaps even more notorious, a Man-o-War with fire mortars and two more warships on its flanks for good measure. Everything is working against you; you’ve got to stay close to dodge the mortars, but that puts you well within range of its powerful cannons. It’s easily the most difficult thing “Rogue” has to offer, and we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that a lot of you rage quit at least once, as even with a fully upgraded ship it’s maddening.
This one may be controversial, as the fight with Fenrir is certainly one of the most memorable in the series, particularly for fans of Norse mythology. But it’s also very challenging, and not always for the right reasons. Depending on what level you are when you go into the fight, Fenrir can be a highly annoying damage sponge, eating all of your attacks and taking a long, long time to beat. This means he’s not necessarily that hard, just tedious and time consuming, and you’ll probably get tired of fighting him before it’s over. Then again, maybe it makes sense since Fenrir IS supposed to kill Odin.
Much like Erik Loyalskull, if you unlock the early-game quest that sends you across Greece hunting unique animals and then decide to start it right away, you’re going to get destroyed. Ubisoft decided to make the first legendary animal, the one you need to defeat to unlock the locations of all the others, one of the hardest enemies in the entire franchise. You almost certainly can’t beat the Kalydonian Boar right away, and if you do, you probably didn’t enjoy it. The trouble isn’t even the main boar, but the dozens of regular, smaller boars that it spawns. Even the Erymanthian Boar, which deals poison damage, was easier than this.
Jack the Ripper
“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015)This entire DLC was building up to a final showdown between Jack the Ripper and Evie, but after the disappointing fight against Starrick in the base game, maybe we shouldn’t have gotten our hopes up. All we can say is that Ubisoft developers had clearly seen all the praise “Batman: Arkham City” got for its Mr. Freeze fight, and wanted to replicate that with a stealth boss battle in a closed arena. However, unlike Mr. Freeze, the Ripper doesn’t learn from his mistakes, and if you do end up brawling with him, you’ll find he’s easy to fight but has been given unlimited health. You HAVE to sneak around the room and perform assassinations, making the whole encounter much more tedious than it should be.
Charles Lee
“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)In a franchise that apparently used to think chasing someone for a long time was the ONLY way to pull off a boss fight, Charles Lee stands out as the worst of a bad bunch. He’s the final foe Connor needs to take down at the end of the game, with all his allies already dead. He still puts up a fight, though, leading Connor on a long and frustrating chase through Boston and then through the large, wooden ship you’ll have seen throughout the game. It gets extra annoying when you actually reach the ship, however, because once inside, it gets set on fire, and then it’s not entirely clear where you’re supposed to go. We guarantee you’ll have desynchronized a dozen times, even more if you were going for the optional objectives.
Erik Loyalskull
“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)He’s not one of the hardest bosses in the game – in fact, he’s probably the easiest. But it wouldn’t have felt that way if you found him at the very beginning. He’s in the starting area in Norway, and if you’re exploring the open world and coming to grips with the new optional objectives, Erik Loyalskull will be the first of the Lost Drengr you encounter. He’s only power level 10, but if Eivor is power level 1 or 2, you’ll be out of your depth with this fight, dealing very little damage since you’ll also have very weak weapons and armor by this point. It’s annoying having to leave the first area to level up and come back later, when you’ll probably be so over-levelled that the fight loses all of its challenge.
Al Mualim
“Assassin’s Creed” (2007)This fight took the first game from its more grounded, historical realism with sci-fi premise and presented us with the beginnings of the Isu lore. But despite its significance, showing both the power of the Apple of Eden and how that power corrupts the people who wield it, it’s definitely not the best designed encounter we’ve ever seen. The first game’s jankier combat and inability to actively heal make it very annoying, as well as Al Mualim’s instant-kill attacks. Even if you’ve got max health, we’re sure you had to replay this final segment many times, ruining its impact.
Black Shuck
“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)Many of the legendary animals in “Valhalla” are difficult to fell, but all are unique fights that are usually a breath of fresh air. The Black Shuck is possibly the most annoying animal hunt in the game, however, largely because the beast is so mobile. It runs around the arena and jumps constantly, dodging your attacks and leaving you reliant on the bow. There are additional arrows and healing items scattered around the arena, but it’s still a long fight of watching the thing run around the arena and often being too far away for the fight to be fun. It was a relief to finally kill it.
Qetesh & Resheph
“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017)You’ll fight elephants during the main story, but there are also a handful of optional, war elephant encampments designed to be tackled when Bayek hits level 40 – the level cap in the base game. All the elephants are difficult, but this one pits you against two at once. Yes, if you’re over-levelled and put the game on easy, they’re not too tricky, like most “AC” bosses, but what makes them uniquely annoying is that one of the elephants has an archer who’ll constantly harass you with ranged attacks. Focus on Resheph first and dodge the arrows, before turning your weapons on Qetesh, who’s slightly easier.
Basim
“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)This was the climactic fight of “Valhalla’s” main story. We finally uncovered the truth: that Eivor, Sigurd, AND Basim are all reincarnated Isu, and that Basim is Loki. He’s also got a particular grudge against Eivor for things Odin did and tries to kill them. However, what makes the fight against him frustrating is that he has no on-screen health bar. We appreciate it’s for the immersion and gives you fewer distractions in this pivotal plot moment, but it does make it harder to see how many of your hits are actually landing and whether you’re even progressing in the battle.
The Storm Fortress
“Assassin’s Creed Rogue” (2014)“Black Flag” already had plenty of difficult ship battles, most infamously against El Impoluto, the hardest legendary ship in that game. But the Storm Fortress in “Rogue” is perhaps even more notorious, a Man-o-War with fire mortars and two more warships on its flanks for good measure. Everything is working against you; you’ve got to stay close to dodge the mortars, but that puts you well within range of its powerful cannons. It’s easily the most difficult thing “Rogue” has to offer, and we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that a lot of you rage quit at least once, as even with a fully upgraded ship it’s maddening.
Fenrir
“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)This one may be controversial, as the fight with Fenrir is certainly one of the most memorable in the series, particularly for fans of Norse mythology. But it’s also very challenging, and not always for the right reasons. Depending on what level you are when you go into the fight, Fenrir can be a highly annoying damage sponge, eating all of your attacks and taking a long, long time to beat. This means he’s not necessarily that hard, just tedious and time consuming, and you’ll probably get tired of fighting him before it’s over. Then again, maybe it makes sense since Fenrir IS supposed to kill Odin.
Kalydonian Boar
“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018)Much like Erik Loyalskull, if you unlock the early-game quest that sends you across Greece hunting unique animals and then decide to start it right away, you’re going to get destroyed. Ubisoft decided to make the first legendary animal, the one you need to defeat to unlock the locations of all the others, one of the hardest enemies in the entire franchise. You almost certainly can’t beat the Kalydonian Boar right away, and if you do, you probably didn’t enjoy it. The trouble isn’t even the main boar, but the dozens of regular, smaller boars that it spawns. Even the Erymanthian Boar, which deals poison damage, was easier than this.
